Sowing seeds typically involves depositing seeds at predetermined, regular intervals so that the plants grown from the seeds are distributed in a pattern that facilitates watering, fertilizing, harvesting, sunlight exposure, and other agricultural functions. Many plants are initially grown in a germination tray before being transplanted into the ground or another container. Germination trays are typically flat and have a plurality of depressions arranged in a number of evenly-spaced rows and/or columns. Typically each of the depressions is filled with soil and sowed with a single seed so that each of the depressions yields a single seedling.
Manually planting seeds in a germination tray can be a labor-intensive and time-consuming process. Therefore, many growers employ a seed sowing machine to automatically plant the seeds in the germination tray. One conventional type of seed sowing machine is a drum seeder which includes a rotating drum configured to transfer seeds from a hopper or other reservoir into the depressions of the germination tray. Typically the rotating drum has a plurality of apertures that provide suction to pick up the seeds so that they can be carried away from the hopper on the exterior of the rotating drum. Once a seed is aligned above a depression in the germination tray, the suction force holding the seed to the rotating drum is removed and the seed is dropped into the depression. Meanwhile, the germination tray is conveyed beneath the rotating drum, so that the next depression receives the next seed dropped from the rotating drum.
The yield of seedlings is dependent on the drum seeder depositing a single seed, or a desired quantity of seeds, in each of the depressions in the germination tray. If the drum seeder misses one or more depressions, or deposits an excess number of seeds in one or more of the depressions, it may have a negative impact on the yield of seedlings. Also, since it may be difficult and/or cost-prohibitive for a grower to manually inspect each of the depressions for a missing seed and/or multiple seeds, the grower may be unaware that the drum seeder is malfunctioning, or has suboptimal settings, until the seedlings begin to sprout from the germination tray.
A variety of factors can cause the drum seeder to deliver an improper amount of seeds. Such factors include clogged apertures, improper machine settings (e.g., rotational speed of the drum, vacuum pressure level, etc.), characteristics of the seeds (e.g., size, shape, etc.), and other factors. Knowledge of which of these factors is reducing the yield of seedlings can be useful to a grower so that the grower can adjust and/or fix the drum seeder. Conventional drum seeders, however, usually do not provide the grower with diagnostic information, especially not the kind needed to ascertain the cause of a low yield of seedlings.
The present disclosure sets forth seed sowing systems and methods of sowing seeds embodying advantageous alternatives to existing seed sowing systems and methods of sowing seeds, and that may address one or more of the challenges or needs mentioned above, as well as provide other benefits and advantages.